Any Physical Therapists on the Board?

[rubysoho]

I have a few questions pertaining to careers in physical therapy and was wondering if anyone here would be willing to chat with me. Please PM or post here. Thanks in advance!

[KnottedYet]

What do you want to know?

[solobiker]

I am not a PT..I am an OT and have worked in the field closely with PTs for over 18 years. I may be able to answer some questions.

[malkin]

Yes.
There are PTs on TE.

[AnnieBikes]

I am a retired PT, so may not have the most updated information! But, I am glad to help if I can. I certainly did love it when i was practicing!! Ask away!!!

[rubysoho]

I am hoping to get feedback about school choices. There is a wide range of tuition costs so knowing what schools have good programs or how to find that information (because they all speak very highly of themselves!) would be appreciated. Loans will be inevitable for me so I want to make sure I am making a good decision before going into debt!

Was anyone able to maintain a full-time job while in school?

Also, what is the best way to get volunteer hours or time shadowing a pt? I have no problem strolling in and asking at a clinic but thought maybe people might have some insight into this.

Lastly, if there were any base classes they wish they had taken (I need to spend the next year taking some classes I didn't take when I got my first degree that was for an unrelated field).

Overall I am looking for advice in moving forward. I have been considering this for about a year and it is time to make a move or move on!

[tangentgirl]

Was anyone able to maintain a full-time job while in school?

My mom and I were in college at the same time - she became an OT. I skated through on a communications BA while she worked her patootie off for a BS. I do admire her for her hard, hard work there.

I can't imagine doing that kind of program and trying to maintain a full-time job. A part-time job sounds really hard, unless it's something where you could study.

My mom went to Loma Linda University, a small private school in California known mostly for its education and work in the medical field. She studied with the PT students and took some classes with them.

It was intense, to say the least. I would liken what she did to a pre-med program. She used to study by grabbing me or one of my sisters and rattling off parts of our bodies - arms, legs, whatever, and tracing nerves and bones and tendons and muscles with her finger. Sometimes she'd even draw on us. She had to memorize everything, know how it all worked together. She really did spend about 80-90% of her waking time studying. If she wasn't sleeping she had a book or index cards in her hand.

[solobiker]

My mom and I were in college at the same time - she became an OT. I skated through on a communications BA while she worked her patootie off for a BS. I do admire her for her hard, hard work there.

I can't imagine doing that kind of program and trying to maintain a full-time job. A part-time job sounds really hard, unless it's something where you could study.

My mom went to Loma Linda University, a small private school in California known mostly for its education and work in the medical field. She studied with the PT students and took some classes with them.

It was intense, to say the least. I would liken what she did to a pre-med program. She used to study by grabbing me or one of my sisters and rattling off parts of our bodies - arms, legs, whatever, and tracing nerves and bones and tendons and muscles with her finger. Sometimes she'd even draw on us. She had to memorize everything, know how it all worked together. She really did spend about 80-90% of her waking time studying. If she wasn't sleeping she had a book or index cards in her hand.

I would have to agree with this. Although it depends upon if you want to just "get through it" or if you want to excel. Often times you have to maintain a rather high GPA to even get into a program. A lot of the programs tend to be pretty competitive. I spent a lot of time studying because I wanted to do well and have a thorough understanding of all the topics. I ended up with close to a 4.0 GPA with a lot of hard work. There would have been no way to work full time job at the same time unless I only took a few classes a semester. Then at the end I had internships for close to a year which was full time work without the pay. Many of my PT friends have said the same.

Good luck on your search!!

[solobiker]

As for volunteer hours or time shadowing...what areas are you interested in. We just had a person shadow the PTAs for the week. She just called and asked if she could and we cleared it with our administrator.

[rubysoho]

wonderful insight. Thank you. I also skated through college getting a comm degree (really, I did have a plan... funny how things can change so drastically) though I did put in many hours at a radio station and the audio/video editing labs.

Looking at the coursework and knowing a few people who are working in the medical or science fields I suspected the answer would be no regarding a full-time job. But, I have a year to figure out that issue, I guess.

(warning, below I started rambling )

I absolutely love biomechanics (it is something I studied in a year long internship) and how it relates to preventing injury or maximizing output so working with athletes is something I would love to do. I am more interested in how the whole body works together rather than strengthening one area. I believe in looking at the entire picture and not just a closeup of the problem. I taught horseback riding to a little girl who had gone to many sessions of pt for her lower back but they neglected to also strengthen other important muscles so she was terribly imbalanced. The frustration of that little girl and her parents who were trying to do the best for her makes me mad. It could have been avoided. Riders have a lot of back problems (myself included). Between my years of experience training horses and riders and this profession I know that I could do a lot of good in that niche market because I understand the muscle groups and have a good base of knowing how they need to work together in order to be successful at anything more than lower level riding. (I don't want that to be my only area of specialization but I am confident that I would be very good with those individuals)

Ok, I am going to stop my ramblings. In short, I really want to work with athletes but working with people in general -like that young girl I mentioned- seems like it would be fulfilling.

I have three weeks before registration for classes begins. Lots of time to think, plan and make a real decision. There is a clinic nearby who has a person that specializes in athletes. The clinic also believes in surgery as a last option so I feel I would be around like-minded people if I could get in to shadow there.

Thanks again for the insight. It is very much appreciated. (And forgive me for any typos, I have to finish getting ready for work and I don't know what the autocorrect on my iPad has done!!)